Trey Day: All-Shore linebacker fills in at QB to lead No. 2 Brick Memorial over No. 9 Wall

WALL TOWNSHIP — Trey Tallmadge is Brick Memorial’s star linebacker and one of the program’s all-time greats. But on Friday night, his job description went beyond leading the Mustangs’ defense.

The standout senior was asked to put on an old hat, and he rose to the challenge to lead Brick Memorial to an impressive victory in its season opener.

With All-Shore quarterback Jason Lajara out with an illness, Tallmadge stepped in and delivered a sensational performance with 279 yards of offense and four touchdowns as Brick Memorial, ranked No. 2 in the Shore Sports Insider Top 12, rolled to a 35-7 Shore Conference nondivisional victory over No. 9 Wall.

A two-time First Team All-Shore selection and Brick Memorial’s all-time leading tackler, Tallmadge is one of the Shore’s best defensive players and the quarterback of the Mustangs’ defense. On this night he was the actual quarterback, a position he has experience playing, but not since his AYF days. It looked a little different without Lajara, but the end result was just what Brick Memorial has come to expect from its dynamic, high-octane offense. Tallmadge completed 8 of 14 passes for 197 yards and two touchdowns and ran for 82 yards and two touchdowns on 13 carries. He fired a 71-yard touchdown pass to All-Shore senior wideout Nyzier Matthews early in the second quarter and ran for a 15-yard touchdown late in the first half to give the Mustangs a two-score lead. He connected with senior wide receiver Ricky Dillon on a 77-yard touchdown in the third quarter and then scored on a 1-yard run.

Tallmadge also spearheaded the Mustangs’ defense with double-digit tackles, a tackle for loss, and an interception. Brick Memorial’s starting defense did not allow a point as Wall’s touchdown came late in the game with backups on the field for both teams. It was a performance that showcased Tallmadge’s all-around ability and Brick Memorial’s resilience.

“It’s tough, and I feel for Jason. He’s the glue to our team, so it took a lot this week to prepare and it took my teammates trusting me,” said Tallmadge, who is committed to Sacred Heart. “We had a good week of practice, so I really think they believed in me. I was really nervous at first. I found out last Thursday so I had some time to prepare and get my mind right. I had a fun time. Hopefully Jason’s back next week.”

“It was really impressive, but anyone who knows Trey is not surprised,” Brick Memorial head coach Walt Currie said. “He’s an absolutely unbelievable football player, one of the best I’ve ever been around in 34 years of coaching high school football. I’m not shocked he came out and played the way he played tonight.”

Matthews finished with four receptions for 99 yards and a touchdown while senior running back Nazeer Whittaker ran for 53 yards and a touchdown on 12 carries and caught a 2-point conversion pass. On defense, junior linebacker Colin Schoellkopf had a sack, a tackle for loss, and a blocked punt, and junior defensive lineman Jaxon Pacheco recorded two sacks.

After a scoreless first quarter, Brick Memorial cracked open the Wall defense on the first play of the second quarter. Tallmadge and Matthews had trouble connecting on the Mustangs’ first possession, but they made up for it in a big way when Matthews got behind Wall’s secondary and Tallmadge hit him in stride for a 71-yard touchdown. Junior Jack Marotta added the extra point for a 7-0 lead.

With Lajara out, conventional wisdom suggested Brick Memorial’s playbook would have a few pages torn out. That was not the case. Tallmadge made sure Wall had to defend the entire field.

“Once I got my feet wet it was like, ‘Ok, I can throw, I can do this’,” Tallmadge said. “And when you’re throwing to Nyzier Matthews it’s not really hard. You just throw it and he’s going to go get it. And that goes for all of our receivers.”

“One of the things coach Mahoney (offensive coordinator James Mahoney) said to Trey was that he was calling it like Jason’s in the game,” Currie said. “He was going to have to do Jason’s job, the job of the quarterback in our system. He’s always known the offense and this week getting all the reps and being able to prepare made all the difference.”

Wall attempted three fake punts in the game, the second of which came when senior Heath Reinhardt scrambled and tossed a pass to junior Christos Tsandiotis and he broke a tackle to pick up a first down on fourth and 8 from the Wall 42-yard line. Brick Memorial’s defense put the clamps on from there with junior defensive lineman Jaxon Ellis coming through with a tackle for loss on first down and Pacheco sacking Wall quarterback Brian McKenna on second down. Wall was forced to punt from the original line of scrimmage and Schoellkopf got a hand on it for a partial block.

Brick Memorial took over at its own 32-yard line with 4:59 left in the first half and proceeded to march 68 yards across 10 plays to take a two-score lead into halftime. Tallmadge capped the drive with a 15-yard touchdown run on second down with 32 seconds left. The extra point was blocked by Reinhardt, but Brick Memorial led 13-0 and was set to get the ball to begin the second half. On the second play of the third quarter, Tallmadge hit Dillon for a 77-yard touchdown and then flipped the 2-point conversion pass to Whittaker for a 21-0 advantage.

“That was huge, and it had to take the wind out of the sails a little bit for them,” Currie said. “For us to come out and score right away in the second half was a real good swing for us.”

“When you drive down like that at the end of the half and you know you’re getting the ball (to start the third quarter), that kind of breaks a team,” Tallmadge said.

On the third play of Wall’s next possession, Tallmadge reached up to snare an interception with one hand and return it to the Wall 15-yard line. Three plays later he was into the end zone for a 1-yard touchdown and a 28-0 Brick Memorial lead.

Brick Memorial’s lead grew to 35-0 at 7:05 of the fourth quarter when Whittaker scored on a 3-yard run to conclude a 9-play, 47-yard drive. Tallmadge broke a 22-yard run to move the ball to the Wall 15-yard line and set up the Mustangs’ fifth and final touchdown.

With the clock now running via the NJSIAA’s mercy rule, both teams went to their reserves to finish the game. Sophomore Mike Boulard delivered the longest gain of the night for the Crimson Knights with a 49-yard run down to the Brick Memorial 12-yard line. That set up sophomore running back Jasyi Medler for a 5-yard touchdown to avoid being shut out.

But that was just window dressing. This Friday night belonged to Brick Memorial.

Lajara might be back in a week or two, but currently, there is no timetable for his return to the field. Brick Memorial will need his talent and leadership to accomplish their championship goals, but in the meantime, they’re in good hands with Tallmadge. On Friday night, he proved that there’s not much he can’t do on a football field.

 

Box Score

No. 2 Brick Memorial 35, No. 9 Wall 7

	Brick Memorial	Wall
First downs	13	7
Rushes-yards	25-135	27-98
Passing	8-14-0	9-13-1
Passing yards	197	77
Fumbles-lost	1-0	1-0
Penalties-yards	3-20	5-33

 

	1	2	3	4	F
Brick Memorial (1-0)	0	13	15	7	35
Wall (0-1)	0	0	0	7	7

 

Scoring Summary

BM — Nyzier Matthews 71-yard pass from Trey Tallmadge (Jack Marotta kick)

BM — Trey Tallmadge 15-yard run (kick blocked)

BM — Ricky Dillon 77-yard pass from Trey Tallmadge (Trey Tallmadge pass to Nazeer Whittaker)

BM — Trey Tallmadge 1-yard run (Jack Marotta kick)

BM — Nazeer Whittaker 3-yard run (Jack Marotta kick)

W — Jasyi Medler 5-yard run (Heath Reinhardt kick)

 

Individual Statistics

RUSHING — BM: Trey Tallmadge 13-82, Nazeer Whittaker 12-53; W: Mike Boulard 4-60, Dylan Cohen 12-39, Heath Reinhardt 2-26, Max Katsouris 3-10, Jack Murphy 1-(-5), Brian McKenna 4-(-29), Team 1-(-3).

PASSING — BM: Trey Tallmadge 8-14-0 197; W: Brian McKenna 8-11-1 67, Heath Reinhardt 1-2-0 10.

RECEIVING — BM: Nyzier Matthews 4-99, Ricky Dillon 1-77, Shawn Fowler 1-12, Joe Livio 1-8, Nazeer Whittaker 1-1; W: Heath Reinhardt 5-28, Justin Davis 1-19, Maddox Mizelle 1-14, Christos Tsandiotis 1-10, Dylan Cohen 1-6.

INTERCEPTIONS — BM: Trey Tallmadge 1-17.